Gas from Krasnodar Territory has finally arrived to Crimea through a new gas pipeline, the pipeline will work normally in the near future, member of the State Duma Committee on Energy, former First Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea Mikhail Sheremet said.
The MP said that previous restrictions on gas supply for large industrial enterprises of Crimea are now hardly used. "There is enough gas to fully provide our peninsula," he noted.
Earlier, on December 27 of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the recently built natural gas pipeline from mainland Russia to Crimea has become operational. The pipeline will provide natural gas for the entire population of the peninsula.
"This is another very important step for the development of Crimea in the long term. The supplies of Russian gas to the Crimean peninsula will allow us to develop its economy as a whole and will also help to meet the social needs of the Crimea and Sevastopol," Putin said at the time, RT wrote.
The pipeline stretches 358.7 kilometers across Lake Tuzla and the Kerch Strait, with an additional 27.3-kilometer spur to Simferopol.
According to Putin, the pipeline will provide gas for two 470 megawatts (MW) power stations, which will be built by 2018.
In the next four years, Russia will build or reconstruct over 2,500 kilometers of cross-country gas pipelines and build eight gas pumping stations in the Crimea.
Crimea consumes up to 1,300 MW of electricity. Previously 800 MW was supplied by Ukraine. Now the region can meet its own energy demands. With the new power stations the peninsula will be able to generate up to 2,000 megawatts, which exceeds demand.
